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2010-10-19CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD OR COMMISSION: SUBCOMMITTEE: LOCATION: DATE: MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: RECORDER: Parking and Traffic Commission City Hall, Conference Room B October 19, 2010 Bill Bent, Richard Hutchinson, Sgt. Bill Page Richard Benevento Councilor Wes Slate Eileen Sacco Tina Cassidy, Bill Fiore, Cassidy calls the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 1. Approval of Minutes Cassidy asks if there are any changes that need to be made to the draft minutes of the August 3, 2010 meeting. There are none. Hutchinson: motion to approve the minutes of the Parking and Traffic Commission's 8- 3-10 meeting, seconded by Fiore. All members in favor, the motion carries. Cassidy asks if there are any changes that need to be made to the draft minutes of the September 7, 2010 meeting. There are none. Hutchinson: motion to approve the draft minutes of the Parking and Traffic Commission's 9 -7 -10 meeting, seconded by Fiore. All members in favor, the motion carries. Cassidy asks there are any changes that need to be made to the draft minutes of the September 21, 2010 site visit. There are none. Bent: motion to approve the minutes of the Parking and Traffic Commission's 9- 21-10 site visit, seconded by Fiore. All members in favor, the motion carries. 2. Discussion/Recommendation : Discussion of Site Visit and Potential Change of Traffic Flow Direction on Kittredge and Russell Streets — DPS Director Mike Collins Cassidy addresses the Commission and recommends that a site visit be held on October 22 for the purpose of reviewing the lane delineators that have been installed in front of Dairy Queen. Cassidy explains that Mike Collins has studied the area and it has been suggested that a change in the traffic patterns on Kittredge and Russell Streets may be in order. She explains that people Draft P &T Commission Minutes October 19, 2010 Meeting Page I of 5 can barely make the turn around the lane delineators when taking a left turn out of the Dairy Queen site. The Commission decides to meet with Collins at the Dairy Queen at 8:00 a.m. on October 22nd. 3. Discussion: Previous Decision to post "No Turn on Red" at Essex/Dane Street Intersection Cassidy recalls that the Commission visited the site and recommended a "No Turn on Red" sign be installed. She explains that a number of complaints have been received from people stopping at the light to obey the prohibition and that is backing up the queue and tying up traffic. Bent suggests that the crash data for the intersection should be reviewed. Hutchinson recommends a green arrow be put in place rather that a red ball which may be causing the opposing traffic some confusion. Slate addresses the Commission and recalls that the issue was brought to the attention of the Commission originally during a site inspection of the area when Montserrat College's "Village" was opening. He explains that he travels Dane Street all the time and the issue was that people were not stopping at the Essex/Dane Street intersection before turning onto Dane Street. It was also noted that City Electrician Bill Ambrefe changed the signal from a green ball to a green arrow as instructed by the Commission, but was told to immediately change it back because it was creating a dangerous situation. Page offers to get the crash data and provide it to the Commission and Bent for review. 4. Discussion: Additional Issues /Sunestions Re2ardin2 River Street and School Street and Potential Repair of Mass DOT's School Street Bride— Councilor Wes Slate Slate explains that he met on site with State inspectors and neighbors as well as representatives of MassDOT and Dale Earl from State Representative Mary Grant's office. He explains that there is a two -year inspection cycle for the bridge. The last inspection was done in October of 2008 and the next inspection is therefore scheduled to happen this week. He notes that a report will be sent to Representative Grant regarding the condition of the bridge and the report could include recommendations for repaving, re- striping etc. Slate explains that the people he met with inspected the vegetation and signage etc. Cassidy states that she will be looking forward to the report and suggests that the Commission hold off on any action until the report is received from MassDOT. Bent: Motion to table this matter until the March 2011 Parking and Traffic Commission meeting at which time the report should be received and the Commission can review it. Hutchinson seconds the motion, all members in favor. The motion carries 5 -0. Draft P &T Commission Minutes October 19, 2010 Meeting Page 2 of 5 5. Discussion/ Erection of "Caution, Children" Sign on Smith Street at Ward 2 Playground / Property Owner Request via Sgt. Page Page addresses the Commission and explains that a woman at the corner of Smith and Lovett Streets contacted him regarding this matter. He reports that she indicated that there had been a sign to this effect in this location in the past. Page states that he visited the site and could not locate the post where it was supposed to be . Page also reports that he drove down the street and noted there was barely room to get through, so he does not think that speeding is an issue on the street. Page notes that he has no objection to the sign but he would like to stay away from putting up signs for the sake of putting them up. Slate states that he is familiar with the location and Sgt. Page's description is accurate. He states that he gets occasional complaints about parking on the street and those issues have been addressed through the Park and Recreation Department. Hutchinson notes that people use those portable caution sign to warn drivers of children playing in the neighborhood and perhaps they could use one of those. Cassidy: Motion to accept Sgt. Page's recommendation that a sign is not needed at this location at the present time. Hutchinson seconds the motion, all members in favor. The motion carries 5 -0. 6. New /Other Business a. Potential New Crosswalk at Winter/Essex Street — Intersection at Montserrat College of Art Slate explains that he has received a request from the college asking that a crosswalk be installed from the main entrance of the student residence to the Hardie Building. He explains that he waited to see what the foot traffic would be and the college has inquired about this again. He explains that it has been a year since the new dorm buildings opened and there is a lot of foot traffic back and forth across Essex Street as a result. He submitted Council Order #173 on September 15, 2010 that requests the crosswalk's installation. Slate adds that the college is also concerned about the speed of traffic on Essex Street. He also notes that the president of the college was at a recent City Council meeting and he is very pleased that the City is working on this, noting that this is a big issue for them. Cassidy expresses concern about ADA compliance issues with respect to the crosswalk and abutting sidewalks and suggests that the Commission reach out to Pubic Services Director Mike Collins to be sure installation is feasible. Bent suggests that the Commission move on the request at this time and send a letter to Mike Collins. Cassidy: Motion to send a letter to the Council recommending approval of the crosswalk with the suggestion that it consult with Mike Collins relative to ADA compliance Draft P &T Commission Minutes October 19, 2010 Meeting Page 3 of 5 and what additional work if any would be required as a result. Hutchinson seconds the motion, all members in favor. The motion carries 5 -0. b. Discussion/Recommendation: Site Visit and Parking Issues on Ray and Boden Streets (Cove Playground) / Sgt. Page Page reports that there are emerging parking issues as the result of the new tot lot installed over the summer at this location. He notes that both are narrow streets with two -way traffic. He explains that it was suggested that the traffic be made one -way which would restrict parking to one side of the street. He also reports that Recreation Director Bruce Doig has observed park openings multiple times over the years and can testify that peak demand for a new facility is always heavy for the first year but wanes over time to previous levels. Based on that Page suggests that the Commission wait and see what conditions are here next summer. Bent questions if there is some way for the Commission to get more information on the issues before they conduct site visits. Page explains that prior to this year there were no issues in this area. He also notes that if the usage for the site drops next summer there will be no issue. Page: Motion to continue this matter to the Commission's July 2011 meeting for further review and discussion of the matter. Cassidy seconds the motion, all members in favor. The motion carries 5 -0. C. Discussion: Erection of a "No Parking — Driveway" Sign at the corner of Rantoul & West Dane Streets / Property Owner Request — Sgt. Page Sgt. Page reports that he has received complaints that people are parking across the driveway at the Omelette Headquarters and asks the Commission for guidance on how to handle this issue. Bent asks if such a sign at this location requires approval by City Ordinance. Page states that it does but that he did not find this particular location listed in the ordinances. Cassidy states that she does not recall any discussion about erecting a "No Parking — Driveway" sign this location. Page will look into the matter further and report back at another meeting. d. Election of Officers Cassidy reminds members that the Commission annually elects a chairman and a vice - chairman from among its members. Bent: motion to nominate Richard Benevento to serve as Chairman of the Parking and Traffic Commission for the following year, seconded by Hutchinson. Cassidy asks if there are any other nominations for chairman. There are none. VOTE ON THE MOTION carries 5 -0 and Richard Benevento is elected Chairman of the Parking and Traffic Commission for the following year. Draft P &T Commission Minutes October 19, 2010 Meeting Page 4 of 5 Page: motion to nominate Bill Bent to serve as Vice - Chairman of the Parking and Traffic Commission for the following year, seconded by Hutchinson. Cassidy asks if there are any other nominations for vice - chairman. There are none. VOTE ON THE MOTION carries 5 -0 and Bill Bent is elected Vice - Chairman of the Parking and Traffic Commission for the following year. e. Traffic Issues near Cabot/Rantoul Streets intersection at Beverly /Salem bridle Cassidy reports that Chamber of Commerce Director Ilia Stacy has some concerns regarding traffic issues on Cabot Street in the area of the Chamber office and she will put that on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. Cassidy reports that there is no pending business for the Parking and Traffic Commission for the regularly scheduled meeting on November 2" She suggests that given that and the pending site visit the Commission consider meeting the first week of December instead. She will talk with members who are not here and confirm a date for the next meeting. E Changes to Parking and Traffic related Ordinance Slate informs the Commission that the Council's Committee on Ordinance Review has completed its review of the ordinances and the comments from the attorney who assisted them. He adds that he noticed that parking ticket fines have not been updated in 22 years and a proposal for increasing them was submitted to the Council's Legal Affairs Committee, with input from Sgt. Page. Slate explains that Legal Affairs recommended approval of the increases which will be going to the City Council as a formal Order. He notes that some fines have been increased by Statute. Page will forward a copy of the fees to Cassidy. g. North Beverly Railroad Tracks Page reports that he has been to the area of the North Beverly train crossing at Dodge Street several times since the last meeting and he has caught no one for violating traffic rules in the area. This includes no one crossing the yellow centerline to avoid the traffic queue at the crossing. He notes that the cones do need to be changed to another device. Cassidy will try to get an update from Mike Collins on the status of that for the next meeting. 7. Adiournment Cassidy asks if there is any other business for the Commission to discuss. There is none. Fiore: motion to adjourn, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, the motion carries. The meeting is adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Draft P &T Commission Minutes October 19, 2010 Meeting Page 5 of 5